Taiwan flags rise in Chinese cyberattacks, warns of 'online troll army'

The bureau warned that Beijing's "online troll army" was seeking to sow discord among Taiwanese.

Taiwan has repeatedly complained about what it sees as China's "grey-zone" tactics - from daily military drills to cyberattacks - at a time when Beijing is ramping up military and political pressure to force the democratically governed island to accept its sovereignty claims.

Taiwan's Government Service Network received an average of 2.8 million daily attacks so far this year, up from 2.4 million in 2024, according to Reuters calculations based on a report by the National Security Bureau.

The report to parliament, a copy of which was reviewed by Reuters ahead of a parliamentary session on Wednesday, said medical systems, defence, telecommunications and energy were among the top targets of the "systemic cyberattacks".

"Beyond intelligence theft, these operations integrate dark web, internet forum, and media channels to disseminate fabricated content, eroding public confidence in the government's cyber defences," the report said.

China's Taiwan Affairs Office did not respond to a request for comment. China routinely denies being involved in hacking attacks but is frequently accused by foreign governments.

China says it has been targeted by Taiwanese cyber operations. On Saturday, China offered a bounty for 18 people it said were Taiwanese military psychological operations officers spreading "separatist" messages.

The Taiwanese report said it detected more than 10,000 "abnormal" social media accounts including many on Facebook which have helped disseminate more than 1.5 million messages that the bureau deemed as disinformation.

The report said China has incorporated its state media and "online troll army" to disseminate content criticising the Taiwan government, promote pro-China narratives and sow distrust in the United States, which is the island's most important international backer and arms supplier.

"This aims to exacerbate internal divisions within Taiwan," the report said, adding China has used artificial intelligence technologies to generate "meme-style" content by targeting specific issues including Taiwan's elections and tariff negotiations with the United States.

"Abnormal accounts then amplify these narratives within Taiwan's discourse space to influence public perception," it said.

Taiwan's government rejects China's sovereignty claims.